First podium for Ferrari in the Sprint Cup in the GT World Challenge Europe 2023, thanks to an excellent performance by Giacomo Altoè and Konsta Lappalainen in Race 1 at Misano.
The 296 GT3s managed on their own by Emil Frey Racing had already shown that they were competitive in the first stage at Brands Hatch in mid-May and under the scorching sun that put the crews in action on the ‘Marco Simoncelli’ to the test, the cars from Maranello continued to be among the best.
The second time obtained by Altoè in Q1, beaten by the usual Raffaele Marciello, was kept at the start by the Venetian, who then tried to manage the situation in the scorching temperatures after lunch before handing over the #14 Ferrari to his teammate.
#14 Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3: Giacomo Altoè, Konsta Lappalainen
Photo by: Ferrari
“I defended myself well at the start, I saw in the mirrors that the rivals behind tried to attack me and in the chaos there was also an accident, which fortunately happened further back”, says Altoe who has just stepped off the podium speaking to Motorsport. com.
“We did everything possible following what we had planned, unfortunately the pit stop wasn’t the best, losing some time changing tyres”.
“This didn’t allow us to come out behind the Mercedes. If we had been a little closer we might have been able to put more pressure on them, but I still think we went very well.”
#14 Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3: Giacomo Altoè, Konsta Lappalainen
Photo by: Ferrari
The driver from Adria followed Marciello’s AMG #88 and so did Lappalainen once back on track for the second part of the race, where Timur Boguslavskiy however had a very good pace which allowed him to keep the margin on the 296 of the Finnish.
“Konsta had an excellent pace, I honestly thought Boguslavskiy was having a harder time, but he too held his pace very well. At the beginning I knew I had to come back later and I tried to preserve the tyre, in the end however he held up very well despite the heat”.
“We had already shown that we were going fast in Brands Hatch in Qualifying and with a great job we deserved our first podium of the year. And hitting it in my home race is even more special for me, we needed it!”
Lappalainen added: “Giacomo did an excellent stint and after the pit stop we came out in second place. Unfortunately I was unable to overtake the Mercedes in front of me, but I tried to bring the car home safely without pushing too hard. I think the team deserve it after the great work of the weekend”.
#14 Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3: Giacomo Altoè, Konsta Lappalainen
Photo by: Ferrari
Team Principal Lorenz Frey-Hilti comments: “Of course you always want to be in front in every race, but considering that we still have some problems with the cars which are still new to us, overall we are very satisfied with this weekend. Like in qualifying, we are very competitive, but in the race we have understeer problems, which are particularly evident in a hot battle like Misano, where the tires are subjected to extra effort and overtaking is more difficult for us”.
“Unfortunately, once again the pit stops weren’t perfect and we lost precious time. We have to work on this aspect for the next races, because on average we could have achieved more. But if you put all the conditions together, we still have had a successful weekend with points in both races, the drivers made no mistakes and we can start from this base.”
Jürg Flach, Technical Director of Emil Frey Racing, comments: “The weekend at Misano was very positive. We had already had the opportunity to carry out tests here and therefore we arrived well prepared. The very twisty track suited Ferrari well. We were competitive in all sectors, as we were able to demonstrate not only in the qualifying sessions, but also with the podium on Saturday. Unfortunately, we still have understeer problems, especially in the race pace. We need to work on this aspect for the next races.”
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